Consequenses of a caffeine withdraw
by Mimimoon
Summary: Eighteen months after the series finale, Luke and Lorelai are married, but Lorelai is unbearably mean with everybody. Why?
1. Coffeine withdraw

**Disclaimers:** I don't own Gilmore girls.

**Couple: **LL

**Storyline:** Season 9, it happened yesterday.

**Summary: **Eighteen months after the series finale, Luke and Lorelai are married, but Lorelai is unbearably mean with everybody. Why?

**A/N**: Thanks to Meg, my beta.

* * *

**Thursday, November 20****st**** 2008**

Luke was cooking dinner for his wife and himself. They had been married for few months now and they had fallen in this comfortable routine. He usually took the day shift at the dinner, went back to the house around five, made dinner for Lorelai and him and then had another eventful evening.

The night before had been eventful, more so than usual. In fact the whole week had been weird. Lorelai had been moody and sometimes even mean. She complained about everything: the temperature, her car, her shoes, her mother, Michel, Sookie, her ears, Babette's gnomes, even the coffee! She had been so unbearable that he had been looking forward to the dinner they had to attend at his sister's house last Tuesday.

But tonight, he had decided that the mood had to end and it began with the dinner he was cooking.

"I know what you will say," he said when he heard the front door close. "Yes, I put vegetables in the fajitas but you don't have to eat them. You don't even have to look at them; I'm going to get rid of them myself. No, I think that I'm going to do it right now… look, I made homemade tortillas."

"Goody!" she said sarcastically. "Vegetables are fine." She sighed as she entered the kitchen and threw he purse on the table.

"You okay?" he asked, seeing that her mood was still not better.

"Nahh!" she said loudly as she sat down.

"What happened?"

"Nothing, just Sookie and Michel had been fighting all day long about Nathan being at the inn. It was a long day of 'you shouldn't _brring_ him _hirre_. You _no_ that I can't _bire_ _babiz,_'" she mimicked Michel French accent, "and 'if I want to bring my son at the inn, I will do' and it all finished by Michel screaming dirty French words… and my ears are blocked."

"What?" he asked, surprised.

"My ears. Blocked, swollen, I don't know. I hear as if I was under the water."

"Weird."

"Yeah!"

"So… April called today. She finally chose Sandia Preps."

"Great, that's a great school, she was lucky to have that scholarship. Imagine if Rory had that kind of scholarship, my life would have been all different."

"Oh! You know you love to go to Friday night dinner, even if you don't admit it out loud."

"How can you know that?" she said rolling her eyes, irritated.

"I know; I know you."

"But, how can you know that? Are you in my head? Did you put a tiny microscopic microphone in my brain while I was sleeping?" she yelled.

"You're wacked!" He was getting pissed.

"Oh, it's you! My ears! It's because of you!"

"What?"

"You passed by my… huh,… my… you know. GAAAAH!!!" she cried out, got up and began pacing around the room.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked, losing his temper.

"Nothing!"

"No, there must be something. You're unbearable, Lorelai. For a week now, you just complain and scream and be mean. Look what happened Tuesday."

"He deserved it."

"You made T.J. cry!"

"I told you, he deserved it."

"You yell at me, you yell at Sookie, you yelled at T.J. when he asked you how you were doing, you yelled at Rory for not being there two weeks ago."

"It was an important day for our country."

"Yeah, but it was an important day for her too. She has followed the presidential campaign for a year and half now. She couldn't quit the most important night of the last two years just to be with her mommy!"

"So now, you're yelling at me for being a sensitive mother."

"No, I'm yelling at you for being a pain in the ass!" he immediately knew he had gone too far.

"Ouch," she said as tear welled up to her eyes. She left the kitchen and stormed into her room.

"Shit," Luke cursed. He switched off the stove and walked up the stairs. He knocked at the door of their room. "Lorelai?"

"Go away." He could tell she was crying.

"Lorelai, please. I'm sorry. Please, let me open that door," he begged sweetly. He heard her sigh.

"It's your house too," she finally agreed.

"Hey," he said softly looking at her crying on his pillow. He sat beside her and stroked her hair. "Tell me what's wrong?"

"Apart for being a pain in the ass?" she snapped.

"I'm sorry for what I said, Lorelai. I went too far, but I don't know what's going on with you lately. You're always mad at something and this something often being me. You're always moody. I can't tell you anything. You're not cherry as you use to be. Usually, you're always… I don't know sparkly, bright… happy? Are you unhappy?" he asked worried.

"No. I am happy… at least when my mom's not involved."

"So what's wrong? Is it me? Did I do something?"

"No, you're perfect," she said with a trembling voice as tear welled up again.

"So what?"

"It's just…"

"What?"

"It's stupid," she said as a tear ran down her jaw.

"I'm sure it's not, what's going on?" he asked softly.

"I… I can't drink coffee."

"What? Of course, you can!"

"No, I can't. I can't bear it. I smell coffee and I… I don't know… I get disgusted. Coffee disgusted me."

"Wow, that's a sentence I've never thought I would heard from you."

"I know and I always feel kind of sick and I know I'm moody and I scream and I yell and I made T.J. cry. I've never made anyone cry before. And I'm always on the verge of tears myself. It's like a permanent PMS! And my ears and …" her eyes went wide as the wave of realization washed over her. "Oh my God, I'm pregnant."

"What?" he said as his own eyes went wide.

"Yeah, it all makes sense. The mood, the coffee, the ears, did I ever tell you that I was always sure that my ears would explode while I was pregnant with Rory, something about blood pressure."

"But the doctor said you couldn't…"

"I know what the doctor said, but it's either that or menopause and I'm far too young for that!"

"You're forty," he said.

"Are you saying that I'm old?"

"No, but it can be a possibility."

"I highly doubt it. My mom had her menopause way after forty."

"So, you're pregnant?" he asked as a little smile appeared on his lips.

"I think so, I mean everything's there," she continued as the same smile appeared on hers.

"How can we know for sure?"

"Luke," she said smiling at his silliness.

"I know, sorry," he said as he stood up. "I'm gonna…"

"What?"

"You know… buy the… you know."

"YOU?"

"Why not?"

"You're a man!"

"I'm aware of that."

"A man can't buy a pregnancy test."

"Why not? There's no law against that."

"If there's not a law, there should be. I'm not letting you go buy a pregnancy test by yourself."

"Again: why not?"

"Because…" she said as she stood up, passed by him, and headed toward the door.

"You could run into T.J.," Luke said, smirking, as she stopped and turned around.

"I'm gonna wait here."

"Good girl," he said as he kissed her before heading to Doose's market...

TBC…

* * *


	2. Scene in the market

**Disclaimers: **Still not mine

**A/N:** Thanks to Megan, my beta! And thanks for your wonderful reviews!

* * *

**Scene in the market**

Luke couldn't believe it. It was worst than picking hygiene feminine products. There were dozens, no hundreds of kinds of pregnancy test. There was the classic kind with the stripes: one stripe, you must try again; two stripes, maybe you should buy diapers while you're there. There were the color kind, the happy face kind – very clever for every pregnant teenage girls who would like to be anything but pregnant – and the one for dummies which directly wrote "pregnant" or "not pregnant" on the stick. Luke was really looking forward to picking this one when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Looking for something specific?" said a highly amused Liz. "You know, you're looking at the pregnancy test right now? Is it for you to use? I mean, I know you've gain some weight lately, big brother, but I really doubt that a pregnancy test is what you need right now."

"Oh Liz… hi! I was… no… I mean… yeah… you know… I was looking for this," he said searching for the first condom box he could reach. "You know, it's clever to put these just next to the pregnancy tests. It says, like, 'Look what you're gonna be buying next week if you don't take these'. Yeah, it's bright! I wonder if it's really Taylor who had the idea. Probably not, you know, since I saw the same configuration in a pharmacy last month…" he rambled lamely.

"Yeah, so you're here to take some small sized, electric yellow-green glowing condom that taste like guacamole?" she said even more amused.

"Oh no!" he said as he exchanged the box in his hand for another one. "The large size, not small," he continued looking really nervous.

"And the weird color's for?"

"Lorelai! She likes… guacamole," he said sighing at his silliness.

"You know, maybe you should get this," she said as she picked the 'pregnant/not pregnant' pregnancy test.

"What?"

"You know, when you're nervously waiting for the result, you don't want to wonder if the good answer is the blue or the pink."

"Yeah?" he asked still unsure.

"Yeah! So you think…?" she asked smiling as she handed him the box.

"Maybe," he answered, grinning at the small box.

"That could be why she was… upset Tuesday?" she asked as he nodded. "Oh Luke! I'm so happy for both of you! But didn't the doctor said…" she started, but was cut off.

"Luke!" T.J. yelled as he reached them pushing a two-year-old Doula in her stroller and holding a full basket of baby food jars. "Hey! I was avoiding you! Your wife still scares me a little, but since she's not here... Hey, you have a pregnancy test in your hand."

"Yeah," he said trying to change subject. "Hi Doula!

" 'Cle Louk!" she tried to say.

"Don't you think she's a little bit old for baby food?" he asked Liz.

"It's not for her, it's for me!" T.J exclaimed.

"What?"

"Yeah," continued Liz. "T.J. just loves baby food. He actually eats it all day long"

"Yeah, it tastes great, it's healthy and you don't even have to chew it! It's like drinking food!" He said as he realized something. "OH MY GOD, LUKE, I THINK LORELAI IS PREGNANT!" he shouted across the market as every heads present turned toward them.

"T.J., shut up!" Luke whispered firmly, hoping nobody had heard him.

"That's why she was so scary this week. I thought that you guys were breaking up again or something, but no, SHE. IS. PREGNANT!" he yelled again, pressing each word.

"T.J, again, shut up!"

"Is it true, Luke?" asked Babette from the fruit aisle. "Lorelai is pregnant? You finally knocked her up?"

"Maybe, I don't know" he said, but immediately regretted it.

"Pattyyyyyyyyy!" she yelled as she dropped her basket full of fruit and ran out of the store towards Miss Patty's dance studio.

"Babette, wait!" Luke tried to call after her, but she was already out of reach "Great! Now, everyone in town will know that Lorelai is pregnant before she even does. I feel like Jackson, good job, T.J.!"

"HEY! I heard that." Jackson said from the cash register. "You can't criticize me for the no-vasectomy thing, it was two years ago and I would like to see you getting a vasectomy without even agreeing to do it in the first place."

"Sorry, Jackson."

"And I can't believe you told Babette even before you told Sookie! She's Lorelai's best friend!"

"I didn't tell Babette, T.J. did!" Luke shouted as fury was washing over him, making Doula cry.

"Oh baby, he made you cry also," T.J. said trying to calm down his daughter. "It's really a mean family, huh?"

"Luke!" Taylor called as he approached them.

"What Taylor!"

"Luke, you know that Lorelai might be pregnant, right??"

"Oh no, maybe that's why I'm trying to buy a pregnancy test here!"

"You know must acquire a permit because of that?"

"Since when do I have to get a permit to reproduce?"

"No, you don't have to get a permit for that, even though it could be a great idea. You must get a permit for your house!"

"My house?"

"Yes, with the new arrival, you're going to have five permanent habitants in a house that only has two bedrooms. This is unacceptable and not legal."

"So, you're trying to say…?"

"Either you buy a new house or you expend your house, or I call a bailiff who will kick you out of your house".

"YOU. MUST. BE. KIDDING!" he shouted.

"No need to yell, it's a public area!" said Taylor with a calm, but hypocritical voice.

"Did you just threaten me with kicking me out of my own house?"

"Just if the circumstances need it!"

"You're INSANE!" Luke said as he was pushed aside by Kirk. "What now, Kirk?"

"Will you just move a little, I have to take this," Kirk said pointing at the pregnancy tests.

"Kirk, is Lulu pregnant also?" asked Liz.

"Not yet, but I've tried to knock her up for a while now and it will soon come in handy!"

"OK! That's it! I'm leaving. You guys are all insane! Taylor, here's the money for the test, a box of glowing condom and three fingers, just guess which one is yours," he said showing him three fingers. "Here's a tip, the good one is the one in the middle. Bye Liz, bye Doula, THANKS T.J.!" he shouted as he ran out the store.

-----------

"That's it, pack your things, we're moving," Luke said as he entered the house, slammed the door and made Lorelai jump.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Take this," he said as he showed the test to her. "As soon as it turns positive, we pack our things and go away."

"Luke, wait! What's going on?" she tried following him as he stormed into the kitchen to take a beer from the fridge.

"You know where we could move? New Mexico! It's near my other kid, it's not far from Texas where Rory could find a job and the new kid will never get sick since it's always hot out there. Sure, there're aliens, but aliens can't be weirder than those lunatics who live in this town."

"Okay, come here," she said as she made him sat down. "Breathe," she asked as he sighed, "now, tell me what happened."

"Did you know that we're gonna have to move… or remodel the house?"

"What?"

"Taylor said that if we're having a baby, we're going to be obligated to change our living situation."

"And Taylor knows that because?"

"T.J. told him!"

"Of course! … how?"

"I ran into T.J. at the market and he shouted 'Lorelai's pregnant' when he figured that the pregnancy test I was holding was yours!"

"And Taylor…?"

"Heard it, just as Liz, Doula, Babette, who ran at miss Patty's as soon as she heard, Jackson and Kirk."

"Oh no! Luke," she said amused by his silliness. "Tell me you didn't go to Doose's."

"Where did you want me to go?"

"I don't know, the place near Liz's, Woodbridge, Litchfield, Hartford, name it! But, you don't buy a pregnancy test at Doose's market!"

"Why?"

"Because, you'll come back home angry!" she stated the obvious, still having fun with all of this. "Beside, Taylor's right, we're going to have to move."

"I know," he answered, sighing and calming down. "I'm still trying to figure out a way to accommodate everybody for Christmas."

"I know, me too. So, you're better now?"

"Yeah…" he said as he sighed again.

"We won't move to New Mexico."

"It won't be great for early deliveries," he joked, grinning.

"Good, so…"

"So?" Lorelai pointed at the test. "Oh yeah, I forgot."

"It's always comforting to know that you just forgot about our potential kid," she said as she got up.

"Just take the damn test."

TBC.


	3. Worrisome

**A/N **Thank you Meg

---------

**Worrisome**

"Hey! Can I come in?" Luke asked as he knocked at the bathroom door. He saw Lorelai, glasses on her nose, sitting on the toilette seat, attentively reading the instruction on the box. "You really have to read this? I mean, it can't be that complicated, my sister did the same. It even directly tell you if you're pregnant or not."

"I know, it's just been a while since I took one of those, almost 25 years to be exact. You know that those things tend to change in a quarter of a century."

"Yeah, so do you want to be alone?" he asked uncomfortably. "Or I could wait here or…"

"Do you really want to watch me pee on a stick?"

"I'll wait for you outside."

Taking off her glasses, Lorelai took a deep breath. She was really nervous. They had wanted to have a child for a while now, even before they got married, but after a year of trying and no result, they went to see a doctor who thought that maybe, with time, one of them had lost the capacity to reproduce. Not wanting to go further in the process, they decided to just let the nature take its course.

Now, there she was, holding a pregnancy test, anxious about the consequences of the result. If it was negative, she was not sure how she would react. She had accepted the fact that they couldn't have more kids. Luke and she had a great relationship, great kids and hopefully, grandchildren soon. But in the back of her mind, she knew that a new baby, one of their own, half his, half hers, would be the greatest thing they could get. She really hoped she was pregnant.

Waiting anxiously in the living room, trying to drink his beer, Luke was trying not to think about the test. He was not so patiently waiting for her to get out of the bathroom. When she finally sat beside him, she told him they had to wait five more minutes to be sure about the result.

"I think I've found a solution." Lorelai broke the silence.

"About what?" asked Luke who was wondering what she was talking about.

"Christmas," she continued.

"What about Christmas?"

"April could stay here in Rory's old room and they could go to Liz's," suggested Lorelai.

"You really want Rory to stay at Liz's for Christmas?"

"I don't know, I just suggest something."

"Maybe we could send them in my old apartment; they would be at ease and have some kind of intimacy."

"You're going to have to heat a little bit up there; it's really cold during winter since you don't live there anymore."

"Maybe, but it's better than Liz's."

"Come on, she's his mother."

"Maybe, but I don't think that Jess is going to support T.J. as his mother."

"Maybe, so…"

"So?"

"Do you think it five minutes had passed already?"

"I don't know, maybe we should wait some more."

"Maybe…" said Lorelai as the anxiety was washing over her. "What if I'm not pregnant?"

"What?"

"What if I'm not pregnant? What will we do? I mean, we have our hopes all up but, if I'm not pregnant, I'm going to be crushed and even though you won't admit it, you're going to be crushed. I know I've said that I have accepted the fact that maybe we won't be able to have more children, but right now, I want to be pregnant so badly, you have no idea."

"I know."

"Maybe, if I'm not, we could…"

"Do you really want to go through all the trouble of this? All the process, the doctors and the test tubes! It's going to cost everything, with the troubles at the inn and all, we won't be able to afford it. We're going to have to get a loan, which won't be easy with the economy. If it doesn't work, we're going to have to ask your parent to get involved, and if there's one thing in this world that I'm sure of, it's that I don't want your parent to be involved in a process which will result with the birth of my kid!"

"I know, I just… want so badly to be pregnant."

"I know."

They sat quietly a moment as Luke's harm found his way around Lorelai waist. They anxiously waited for what seemed like an eternity. After several minutes, Lorelai found the courage to take the stick; she linked her fingers with Luke's and locked eyes with him. Together, they turned their look to the test and sighed.

TBC


	4. Answers

They sighed as relief washed over them. Lorelai was pregnant; she - twenty-five years after Rory - was going to have another baby. She was going to have another baby with Luke, her husband, the love of her life. Without waiting anymore, she pulled him into a tight hug.

Luke couldn't believe it. With the time and all the difficulties they had gone trough in the past, he was sure that he wouldn't have any children with Lorelai. But now, as the stick had said it, she was pregnant.

"Oh my God, Luke! It's…"

"I know."

--------------

Weirdly, it bugged him. Usually, when it happened, he would have gotten up, taken a shower and headed downstairs to prepare his day. But today, it really bugged him. Years ago, he wouldn't even have thought about it, but today, it wasn't the same. He wasn't able to sleep and it bugged him.

He turned around and looked at her. She was quietly sleeping. Her skin was a little green, but she still looked radiant to him. In fact, she was more beautiful right now than ever. He put an arm around her waist and kissed her hair. If there had to be one bright side of his insomniac morning, it would have been this.

However, this soon ended when Lorelai quickly got up and ran to the bathroom. Luke, a bit confused by this, followed her and found sitting on the ground throwing up in the toilet. He quietly approached her and took her hair in his hand.

"It sure is your son," she said after she was finished.

"Son?" he asked amused and perplexed.

"Waking me up at this hour, he can't be anything but your son," she continued as she wiped her mouth.

"Why a son?"

"Because a Gilmore girl would be nicer to her mommy!"

"Gilmore?" he asked again, still amused.

"Oh! Sorry, force of habit," she said awkwardly.

"Another discussion for another time," he smiled. "You feel better? It was quite a show you just pulled there!"

"I don't know," she said sighing, "if I didn't know I was pregnant, I would seriously doubt it this morning. Gahh… it's too early to be up. I need coffee!"

"There's no way in hell I'm giving you coffee this morning, I don't want it…"

"Him," she cut him off.

"…him to have two heads."

"Come on…" she demanded.

"No!" he answered firmly.

"Luke?" she pouted.

"I said no, if you want coffee, fine, but I won't give it to you. Get it by yourself."

"Fine," she sighed. "I'd probably throw it up after, anyway."

"Good, you want some breakfast?"

"Please, let me just…" she pointed her toothbrush.

---------------------

When she went down the stairs, breakfast was already ready to be eaten.

"Here, I tought you must want some cereal, it's light on the stomach," he said as he hold her out a bowl.

"Thanks," she told him and began to eat. "Oh man, I'm so hungry. I feel like I don't have anything in my stomach.

"You don't," he said as he began to eat his oatmeal. "So…"

"So?"

"It's Friday."

"Yes, it is."

"Tonight is…"

"I know."

"Do we tell them tonight?"

"I don't know. Telling them tonight means that we have to tell Rory before. I'd really like to announce the good news to her before them."

"So, call her."

"I guess… I don't want to tell her over the phone."

"Why?"

"'Cause it's Rory, she's my heart, my only child… until now, I want to tell her and then yell with her and cry and laugh and hug her and you know…"

"Yeah I know, so we're going to tell them next week, on Thanksgiving?"

"I guess… oh no!"

"What?"

"You remember four years ago when we began dating the first time?"

"I think I do," he said sarcastically.

"You remember how my mom learned we got together?"

"That, actually, I don't."

"Kirk told her."

"Kirk?"

"I don't remember exactly the story, but Kirk, somehow, answered the phone at the inn and told her."

"Where are you going with this fascinating story?"

"We can't not tell her, unless…"

"Danger! Danger!"

"We don't tell the town."

"Huh, I don't know if you remember yesterday."

"Yeah, but we could… lie to them!"

"How?"

"We just tell them that the test was negative."

"Yeah and right after, we could go teach at the actor's studio."

"Come on, Luke, just… what if the test was really negative? How would you be this morning?"

"Upset, I think."

"So act upset."

"I can't act upset, I couldn't even hide you that I wanted to marry you when I was going to propose, how could I pretend that we won't have another child?"

"Hon, you dropped the ring the morning before our date," she laughed as she got up to put her bowl in the sink.

"Yeah, but it doesn't change the fact that I can't do this," he tried as he followed her.

"Just be yourself, don't smile, bark at the customers, throw the plates, be mean to Kirk."

"I'm always mean to Kirk."

"That's exactly what I'm trying to say."

"I guess."

"So, you'll try?"

"Yeah, I'll try."

"Great, you're the best!" she kissed him. "I love you."

"I love you too," he smiled and hugged her.

"Luke?"

"Mm?"

"We're going to have a baby," she said breaking the hug, looking at him as his smile could have made an iceberg melt.

TBC.

----------------------


	5. Back to normal

**Chapter 5: Back to normal**

Even though they have agreed to be "sad" and "upset", Lorelai couldn't help but smile as she drove her way to the inn. When she entered her business, she spotted Michel who also looked surprisingly particularly happy that morning.

"_Ella, elle l'a. Ella, elle l'a. Elle a, ou-ou-ouhou, ou-ouhou…"_ he sang under his breath.

"Hi Michel!"

"Lorelai, hello!"

"Wow, you're particularly perky this morning."

"Well, since I don't have any _morveux_ in my feet this morning, I'm happy."

Lorelai smiled and considered it a moment. Michel didn't really live in this town; he didn't go to restaurants or to the market. He didn't mix to the townies. Lorelai smiled wilder.

"You know, Michel, I've been married now for four months now."

"You have all my sympathies."

"You remember what happened to Sookie about four months after getting married."

"She, somehow, found a way to get knocked up by her lumberjack husband."

Lorelai just looked at him and smiled.

"Oh no! No, no, no, no, no, non! I don't want! Damn!"

After knocked his fist on his desk, he ran in the kitchen, took a muffin and stared at Sookie.

"You and your stupid example," he said before going back to the hall desk.

"When Michel eats a muffin, he must be upset," Sookie said to Lorelai, who had followed Michel in the kitchen. "Oh my God! Lorelai! Jackson told me! It's just, it's great! Congratulations!"

Lorelai stood there, stunned. She hadn't thought about Sookie with her plan. She didn't want to lie to Sookie. However at the same time, her husband was the biggest male gossip in town.

"Sookie, can I tell you a secret?"

"Of course."

"Sookie, I'm pregnant!"

"I know, that why I just congratulated you."

"But…"

"But?"

"Could you keep it quiet for a while, I mean, not even tell Jackson?"

"Why?"

"I just don't want it to be a big deal until I tell Rory."

"Oh! I understand."

"So could you tell Jackson that the test he saw yesterday was negative?"

"Yeah I will. I'm looking for a way to get back to him for the no-vasectomy thing for a year and half, so I think this could do it!"

"Great!"

"So, how did Luke take it?"

"Oh God, he's been so perfect about all of this. He's so happy! He began to make plans for a new home and savings for college and he held my hair while I threw up this morning."

"So romantic!"

"It is, isn't it?"

-------------------

Lorelai had a wonderful day, except for the two times she threw up. She was making her way to the diner when she ran into Miss Patty.

"Lorelai, dear!"

"Hi Patty, how are you?"

"Me, I'm fine, but I should ask you this? I'm so sorry!" she said touching her arm.

"Oh, you know," she tried to look sad. "It's life! We still have time to try and God knows how much Luke is good at trying," she winked. "You went to the diner? How is he?"

"Oh you know him! He's Luke, barks and snorts and makes Kirk whimpers," Lorelai internally smiled. "I think he's a little upset about all of this."

"Yeah, we really hoped to be pregnant, but…"

"Oh Hon! I'm so sorry! Give him a hug for me!"

"I promise! Bye, Patty!"

She entered into the diner and smiled when she saw Luke taking monosyllabically an order. When he looked up and saw her, Luke grinned just a brief moment before bringing back his sad face. He approached her and kissed her.

"Hey!" he said.

"Hey," she answered. "How was your day?"

"Long, hard," he sighed then whispered, "fun."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I kicked Taylor's butt, yelled at Kirk, ignored Bootsie - it was nice," he continued his whispers.

"Good," she sighed.

"Something's wrong?"

"Nope, but Miss Patty is still watching, so look sad," she said as she made a faked sad face. "You're ready to go?"

"Yeah, just let me finish my checks," he said as he started counting. "Did you make the appointment we talked about yesterday?"

"Yes, I did. It's going to be Wednesday the 26th at 3 PM. Will you be able to make it?"

"Let me just check with Lane. Lane?" he called the short Korean girl.

"Yes boss?"

"Could you ask Brian if he can work on Wednesday afternoon shift next week?"

"Okay, we have a practice tonight, I'll ask him."

"Great thanks," he said as he turned back his attention to his wife. "You ready?"

"Yep, let's go."

Looking purposely depressed, they walked their way back home, Luke arm around Lorelai waist. Just as they were approaching Babette's house, they heard the electronic version of _Hairspray'_s theme.

"Hello," Lorelai answered the phone.

"Hi Mom," responded Rory.

"Rory, hon, how are you?"

"Very fine, dear mother, very fine, thank you. And you?"

"I'm not bad, Luke wants to say hello."

"Hello Rory," yelled toward the phone.

"Tell him hi."

"She said hi," she whispered to Luke. "So how's the magazine's going?" she continued as they went into the house.

"Not bad. Big issues this week about how the financial crisis affects Iceland since it went bankrupt this year."

"Poor Bjork, so you're still coming next week?"

"Yes, we decided to arrive Wednesday night and stay for the weekend, is that okay?" she asked as Lorelai smiled at the date.

"Of course, we're thrilled to have you, so are your grandparents."

"How are they?"

"They were fine last week. I think that Dad's tired though," she tried to sound not too worried.

"Possibly, he's not getting any younger."

"Yes," she said, trying to change subject, she really didn't want to worry about his dad's health right now. "Is Jess coming next week?"

"Probably, he's had some issues with his latest work, but it should be fine by then."

"Great!"

"And April?"

"No she isn't coming. She's really concerned about her school right now, you know grades for next year, so Luke thought it would be for the best if she stayed in New Mexico until Christmas."

"Yeah, it's always hard the end of semesters in middle school, especially if you want to go to an Ivy League private high school."

"Exactly. Hey, hon, I'm sorry, but I really have to go, you know Friday night dinner."

"Say hi to Grandma and Grandpa for me, will you?"

"Promise, bye hon."

"Bye Mom." Lorelai said as she hung up. She smiled and walked up the stairs to join Luke into the shower. Without taking her clothes out, she opened the shower curtain. "Hey, sexy."

"What are you doing here?"

"I thought maybe, since you're so environmentally concerned, we could share hot water."

"Lorelai, you know that when we share shower we always end up spending twice the time in it than it would take for the two of us to take separate ones."

"But, I want to."

"Nope."

"Why?"

"Because!"

"Because why?"

"Because we're in a hurry."

"It's not even six, so no we're not."

"Still, I don't want to be rushed afterward."

"Man, you are a lot of work."

"I just don't want to, okay?"

"Okay, I understand," she said closing the curtain and heading back to her room. However as she thought about it, something came to her. She turned back toward the shower and sharply opened the curtain making Luke jump.

"JEEZE! Don't do that again, otherwise you're going to have to raise this kid alone since I would have died of a heart attack."

"Is it because I'm pregnant?"

"That you're going to raise it alone or that you're going to kill me?"

"That you won't have sex with me?"

"Come on, Lorelai," he tried lamely.

"You were never so freakishly concerned about punctuality before. It never would have bothered you to have sex in the shower, even if we were late to Friday night dinner, or anywhere for that matter."

"But tonight, I don't want to be late."

"Don't try to change subject, here."

"Hey, it's you who brought up punctuality."

"You're still trying to change subject," she said half hurt. "Don't you want to make love to me anymore? Am I now unattractive?" she continued as she became sadder and sadder. "Now that you've gotten me pregnant, you won't ever touch me again because you finally had your way? That's it, isn't it?"

Tears were now welling up in her eyes and she made her way to the bedroom trying to fight them. Luke sighed; he hated seeing Lorelai this upset for nothing. "Hormones," he mumbled. He turned off the water and dried himself before following her into the bedroom. She was lying down on her bed, crying in Luke's pillow.

"Can you tell me why you always cry in MY pillow?" he tried to joke.

"Go away."

"Come on, Lorelai, you know I want you, right?" She scoffed. "Okay, I'm going to be honest; I didn't want to have sex with you in the shower, that's why I didn't want to share."

"See."

"I didn't want to do this over there because I was afraid of hurting you."

"How?"

"I don't know, I could have dropped you, or you could have slipped, or I don't know."

"You've never been so thoughtful before! If I remember correctly, you've been anything but careful about this aspect of my health. You just… come into the shower and get what you want."

"Never heard you complain before!"

"Now I DO!"

"Look, Lorelai, you're pregnant."

"That, I know!"

"You're pregnant, and you are beautiful, a little bit hormonal, but still beautiful. You're even more appealing right now than you've ever been before. I would make love to you right now if you weren't still crying your eyes out into MY pillow! But, in the next few months, there will be things that I won't want to do. Sex in the shower is one of them. If, because of my… naughtiness, I ever really hurt you or the baby, I won't be able to forgive myself. You understand?"

"I do, it's just... please just explain yourself when you do this, okay? I don't know if you have seen it already, but I'm a little bit emotional when I get hormonal."

"No, really?"

"Shut up!"

"We're okay, now?"

"We are," she smiled and kissed him. "About that part, when you said you would like to make love to me right now…"

"Your wish is your command," he said as he kissed her again and pushed her further on the bed.

"Mmm, I like that," she answered between two kisses.

---------------------

"You're late!" said Emily as she opened her front door.

"I know! You know… traffic…" Lorelai answered taking off her coat.

"Oh! That's strange because your father just came back from work and said that the traffic was light," Emily was getting irritated. Was it impossible for her daughter to be ready on time just once?

"Yeah," she pathetically tried, "hum… that is what I was trying to say 'you know… traffic was light, but there was a guy who was protesting about… I don't remember, do you remember Luke? Anyway he was blocking the road and …"

"Lorelai," sighed Emily.

"I'm sorry mom, we set off late," apologized Lorelai as they all made their way to the living room.

"Lorelai, could you tell me why on earth are you not able to live on a schedule just once?"

"Usually, I just have some clothing issues, but today, Luke and I were having sex," she said as she threw a smile at her mom.

"Lorelai!" yelled Luke as he sat down on the couch. "Please, don't say that to your mother!"

"Wild-in-the-shower sex!" she continued just to irritate her mom.

"For the love of God, Lorelai, you can't be serious, can you?" Emily continued as she sat down as well.

"Well I was serious, this smile proves that I am pretty damn serious."

"Lorelai, please," Luke pleaded.

"Yes, Lorelai, please, listen to your husband," Emily begged. "You're such a kid sometimes."

"Keeps me pretty!" answered Lorelai.

"So how are things at the inn?" asked the mother.

"Oh… you know… things… and yeah!" she rambled.

"Things aren't going well?" Emily worried.

"I didn't say that," she replied.

"There are no guests? Reservations are slow? Problems with Michel, Sookie?"

"No, they're good, reservations are good, guests are good."

"So what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, did I say that something was wrong?"

"But you faltered, why did you falter?"

"I didn't falter..."

"Yes you did. "

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did," she declared before turning to Luke. "Luke, did Lorelai falter in a way or another in the last few minutes?"

"Yes, she did," he answered.

"Hey, traitor!" she poked him. "Why did you say that?"

"It seemed like the good answer. Beside, you did falter."

"I know," she sighed.

"So… what's wrong?"

"Oh… it's nothing."

"Lorelai," Emily warned.

"What?"

"You made a big deal about the inn, so tell me what is the thing at the inn that it, according to you, is nothing".

"I didn't make a big deal out of it, you did."

"Maybe, but, I want to know what's wrong with your business."

"Okay, it's just… the bank raised the interest rate and we have some trouble with the mortgage. It's no big deal."

"No, it's a really big deal, you're going through some important financial problem," she began as Richard made in way in the room. "Richard, Lorelai is having problems with the mortgage of the inn."

"I'm writing a check," he said as he began turning back to his study.

"No, Dad, please. We're working something out with them. If we don't make the deal, I promise, I'm going to come begging you for the money, but now, just let me figure it out."

"As you wish, Lorelai," Richard said making his way to the bar. "Luke, you want a beer?"

"Please, Richard, thank you."

"My pleasure, Lorelai, martini?"

"Oh," she said surprised by the fact she hadn't thought about this before. Her eyes widened and she threw a panic look at Luke. "Hum… I don't feel so well. I got a kind of a bug all day long, just a little thing, nothing big or potentially life changing, but… water should be good."

"What do you mean a bug? You are sick?"

"Just a little stomach ache, nothing big."

"If you say so," she said giving up. "Dinner should be ready by now, shall we?"

----------------------

A heavy silence was reigning over the dining room while they were eating. Luke, who usually didn't say anything at all at those dinners, was even more afraid about saying anything about the good news; Lorelai was just trying to eat her food without throwing up and Emily and Richard were just wondering why their daughter wasn't saying anything.

"This pot roast is really good, Emily," said Luke trying to ease the tension in the air.

"Well thank you, Luke," said Emily a little bit surprised as Luke sent a meaningful look at his wife.

"It is really good, Mom, new cook?"

"Yes, Melany Beaudoin. She just makes the best maple chicken."

"Beaudoin? France? Belgium?" Lorelai asked.

"New Hampshire, actually," responded Emily.

"Oh! How exotic!" answered Lorelai shoving a tiny piece of roast in her mouth.

"Lorelai, are you sure you're okay? You've hardly eaten anything."

"Oh, you know, the bug," she tried not to sound too sick.

"If you say so," she said before changing the subject. "About Thanksgiving, are you sure you want to do it? Because we are always available to do it."

"Mom, we've already said we wanted to do it. I had fun choosing dishes and tablecloths and Luke already began to cook. We really want Luke's family to be there and it would be awkward for them to come here since they don't know you or this world," tried Lorelai.

"Is there something wrong with our world?" answered an offended Emily.

"Not yours, theirs!" mumbled Luke.

"They're just… weird sometimes, you wouldn't like them to come here."

"Okay, as you wish," sighed Emily. "So Luke, is your daughter coming?"

"No, she's working on getting on a fancy college and she has to study. She's coming for a week and half during Christmas though."

"Oh, that's nice! But it's such a shame that she can't come more often. This girl is just refreshing. I have never had a more interesting conversation about rocks before, I've never even thought I would actually have an interesting conversation about rocks before I met the girl," complimented Richard.

"Thank you, I'm pretty proud of her."

"Well, you should be. That daughter of yours is just darling," Emily continued.

Just as Emily was about to say something else, Lorelai quickly got up and ran to the bathroom covering her mouth with her hand.

"Bug," was all she could say.

"What on earth…" Emily said.

---------------------

"This dinner was beyond weird," said Lorelai as they got out of the house.

"And you getting up to throw up absolutely everything you had in your stomach has absolutely nothing to do with it."

"Maybe, but is it me or my mother was particularly nice to you, today?"

"Maybe she accepted the fact that I am going to be in your life for a long time."

"Or maybe it was just you being a traitor," she continued as she got into the truck.

TBC.


	6. The tale of Thanksgiving preweekend

**AN**: Thanksgiving isn't a big thing here, it's in October and it's more of a day free of work than an actual holyday (like labor day), so I'm sorry if I don't have the perfect description of it. The only way I have to know how it is, it's by GG and South Park (I don't really believe anything they say in this stupid show, so...)

**AN2: **Beware there're Saw V spoilers in this chapter (even though there's really nothing to spoil in this movie!)

* * *

**Chapter 6: The tale of Thanksgiving pre-weekend**

_**Wednesday, the 26**__**th**__** November 2008**_

Lorelai hadn't known what to do with her hands all afternoon. She was impatiently waiting for her daughter and her boyfriend to come home for Thanksgiving weekend and had been pacing furiously over her house all day long – except for the meeting with the doctor when she learned that she was happily going to give birth in seven and half months. She made the bed, then remade the bed, then re-remade the bed like it was the first time and finally took off all the sheets to buy new ones. After a long hour of running to buy new sheets and bed making, she was ordered by Luke to sit still and relax. It was just then that she began to kill time on the Internet.

"Luke, you won't believe it," Lorelai shouted to the kitchen where her husband was making dinner and some food for tomorrow's party. "You know what's was the most popular girl name for 2007?"

"No, actually, I don't," Luke answered absently as he focused on the cooking. "But I sure will know it soon."

"Here's one sure thing, if we're having a girl, we're going to choose the most original name in the world like Autumn or India."

"What are you talking about? I'm not going to name my daughter Autumn!"

"Not the point here! Did you know that most popular name for 2007 was Emily? Emily! I don't want to name my new daughter Emily. She's going to grow up too fast, hate me, join the DAR and fire every maid she will ever hire before they'll even begin to work. I don't want that for my child."

"So, we won't name her Emily!" he called as he continued to cook for a while before he heard his wife shouting again.

"Oh my God, your name is soooo far in the list, like forty-sixth," she said after she found Luke's name. "You know, just forty names after the name Christopher."

"There is no way in hell that I'm going to name my kid Christopher, you hear that?" Luke said as he walked angrily in the living room. "What are you looking at?"

"You're seriously asking me this question?" she asked. "I'm in the New Parents Guide web site, there's the list of the most popular baby name for the last four years."

"Found anything interesting?" he asked as he looked at the computer.

"Oh, some names sound good," she continued. "I like Ava."

"Like Ava Gardner?"

"Yeah, she could do a Luke and Lorelai thing and have a boy pining for her during a decade."

"I did not pine for you for a decade," he began as she sent him a look. "Okay, maybe I did."

"But there are really nice names in there," she said smiling at one boy name in the list.

"Yes, there is," he agreed unknowingly looking at the same name.

"Anyway, we still have 34 weeks to wait before it becomes something urgent!" she said as she closed her laptop. "Is dinner ready?"

"Tonight's or tomorrow's?"

"Tonight's. Jess and Rory should be here soon and I'm sure they'll be hungry."

"Pizza is in the oven, fries are frying, soda is cooling, coffee is _coffe-ing_," he said as he went back to the kitchen.

"You lived with me for too long," she laughed and cleaned the living room a little bit. "You think they'll like the bed?"

"The bed is fine, I already told you that"

"But it's THE old bed."

"I know."

"The bed of my first marriage."

"I know."

"I don't know if they're going to be comfortable sleeping in it."

"I AM still uncomfortable having it in the house, but it was that or stick their old beds together to make a bigger one."

"Yeah, maybe."

"Beside the sheets are new. So it's just an old mattress."

"Are you sure you're okay with it?"

"Yes, I am."

"If it's okay with you, it is with me," she said.

She smiled and made her way to the kitchen to kiss her husband. "Thanks for being you," she smiled.

"You're very welcomed," he continued and kissed her again and downed a little to talk to Lorelai's stomach. "And no thanks to you: you're making your mother crazy."

"Hey, don't blame him, I was crazy before. The pregnancy just put it in the spotlight."

"Him again?" he asked, amused. "If it's a girl, I'm so going to laugh."

"You want to bet?"

"No way on earth I'm going to bet on the sex of our baby," he said as he returned to his cooking.

"You're just afraid to lose", she said before hearing a knock at the front door. "Oh my God, it's THEM, it's THEM!" she yelled as she excitedly made her way to the door. "HONEY!"

"MOM!!!" the girl ran and hugged her mother for the first time since she got married. "I missed you! I missed you so much. You can't tell how much I missed you!"

"I missed you too, kid. I missed you too!" she repeated as she hugged to tighter. "We have so much to tell you. Things at the inn, not so good, but you already know that. And the diner is great, but you already know that. And you're grandfather is teaching full time now, but you already know that. And Lulu is pregnant, but you already know that. And is there anything you don't know already?"

"Yeah, how are you doing? You've been quite mysterious in the past week, you kept talking about this weekend and..." Rory said before being cut off by her mother who warmly welcomed her soon-to-be-future-son-in-law – at least she hoped.

"Jess, how are you?" she said as she awkwardly hugged Jess.

"Not bad," he laughed.

"Need some help with the bags?" Lorelai asked.

"IF I SEE YOU TOUCH ONE OF THOSE BAGS, you are couch-grounded for the rest of the evening," Luke said from the kitchen.

"Wow, married Luke is bossy!" said a surprised Rory.

"You should see him when it's time to do laundry," the mother continued.

"Hi Rory!" Luke said once he saw his step-daughter.

"Luke! I'm so happy to see you!" Rory said as she hugged him.

"I'm happy to see you too, Rory."

"Mom's not too rough on you, isn't she?" she asked, half joking, half worried.

"She is, but I'm tough," he laughed.

"Hey!"

"Hi Luke!"

"Jess, it's nice to see you!" Luke shook his nephew's hand and gave him a manly hug. "So, pizza is going to be ready in five. I'll help you with your bags. Where're you bags?"

"In the car," Jess pointed.

"Go get the bags, guys, we, girls, are going to have a big conversation."

"Nothing dirty or personal, please?" Luke asked.

"Promised," Rory said.

"Hey," Lorelai protested.

"Look, I don't want to hear about you personal life with Luke, I won't be able to eat his food ever again."

"If you say so," said the older woman as she pulled her daughter into her room. "Here, you have a new big bed, new sheets, bookshelves are still there. And if you have any... you know... needs... Luke soundproofed the room, so it's safe. Hum... welcome home, hon."

"Oh, mom?" Rory said with apprehension.

"Yeah, sweetie?"

"We have to leave by Friday."

"What? No!" Lorelai said sadly. "I was looking forward the weekend. I had it all planed out. We were going to watch The Father of the Bride and go shopping."

"I know but I got this assignment for work in Canada, my plane for Ottawa is leaving at noon on Friday."

"Ottawa, huh? Cold. Dull."

"Yeah, they have some kind of political crisis and the paper wants me to cover it. Jess will come also, looking over the translation of his latest book."

"Oh! If Canada calls..." Lorelai began.

"You have to answer it," Rory finished. "I'm sorry mom, but there's a bright side."

"Really? Because good news with you in the last two years don't always sound good to mommy."

"Since they shortened my weekend off, they are going to give me three free weeks for Christmas."

"THAT IS GREAT HUN!!! You, me, April, Luke, the b... d... dog, Paul Anka, all family together, it's going to be sooo great. By the way, since we don't have a lot of space here to fit you all in that tiny room of yours, Luke and I thought we could lend you the apartment above the diner. You could have some kind of privacy in there for the holydays so April will have a bed to sleep on. What do you think?"

"Oh! That's great, thanks," she said less than enthusiastically.

* * *

"Luke, that's the most delicious pizza I've even eaten," Rory said as she took her third piece.

"Yeah, it's good," added Jess.

"Seriously, Hon, you've outdone yourself tonight," Lorelai said as she tried again to bite her delicious meal.

"You're sure you're okay, Mom? You've barely eaten anything tonight."

"It's okay, I ate all afternoon and I was full before you arrived."

"In my 24 years of living, I've never once seen you full before a meal, even before the fourth meal of the great Thanksgiving marathon of 2002."

"It's okay, hon. Luke's keeping me fed all week long."

"It's true you've gained some weight," Jess said

"Hey! Be nice to her," Luke slapped Jess behind the head.

"Gee, Mr. Sensitive!"

"I mean it, Jess."

"But it's true, Luke," added Rory. "Mom has gained a little weight."

"HEY! Be nice to mommy!" Lorelai mocked. "Really?"

"Yeah, but, it looks good on you. You look radiant," Rory said.

"Yeah, healthy," continued Jess.

"Oh! Wow! Hum... Thanks, must be the love," she smiled and winked at Luke. "So," she continued, trying to change subject, "Canada? Huh?"

"Yeah, the government has some kind of political crisis, it involves Conservators and a coalition, I don't know a lot about it yet, I just got the assignment this afternoon."

"It's okay, really, Hon," Lorelai reassured her daughter. "If you want to look for it tonight, we have wireless in the house."

"How?" Jess asked, knowing that neither one of them had any knowledge of technology.

"Kirk," Lorelai said with a smile.

"Kirk?" asked Rory, disbelieving.

"Kirk's Routers and Wireless building Inc."

"Wow, really clever," Rory said. "How did Kirk learn how to do this?"

"He didn't!" Luke said roughly.

"It didn't work most of the time,"

"And when it didn't work, you wouldn't stop complaining about Kirk, which was a plus, it got me a Kirk-bashing pal for a while," Luke said sarcastically.

"You didn't like it more that I did!" Lorelai protested. "But, we liked the idea of being able to talk to April now and then, and it was easier with Skype so we dropped Kirk's company and made a deal with something steadier. So now, we are officially wireless."

"Great, I can't believe you know Skype!" Jess said, curious.

"April showed us," Luke said. "She actually bought me a webcam for my birthday so we can see each other now and then."

"That's cool, I should by one so we'll be able to talk as well," said Rory as Luke and Lorelai shared a meaning look.

"Hum... Rory, Jess... we have some kind of news to share with you," Lorelai said placing her fork down on the plate.

"Oh! It seems serious," worried Rory. "Is it Grandpa? Is he sick or something? His heart, how's his heart?"

"No, his heart is fine, Hon," Lorelai said comfortingly. "It's good news actually.

"REALLY good news," added Luke in his not so subtle way.

"Oh! I'm hooked," Rory smiled.

"Okay, hum, last week, I was kind of was in a funky mood..."

"You were in a kind of a funky mood?" Luke cut her off. "You were unbearable; you were yelling and crying half of the time and the other half you were pouting."

"Hey, I had a good reason to be irritated."

"You were irritated by Sookie making mashed carrots for her son."

"It smelled like mashed carrots all over the inn, just ask Michel."

"So you were in a funky mood?" Jess was losing temper.

"Yeah, we were like, 'Why am I so cranky?'" Lorelai continued her story.

"I can think of few things," Jess added deserving him another slap behind the head.

"Hey, I told you to be nice," Luke warned.

"... and I figured it was because of the caffeine withdrawal," she ignored Jess.

"Caffeine withdrawal? Why were you in a caffeine withdrawal?"

"It's a part of the story," Lorelai continued. "So, for a week I couldn't drink coffee, I couldn't smell, I couldn't even see it. So we put two and two together. Jess, Rory..." Lorelai began just before being cut by Luke.

"Lorelai and I... we're... we're going to have a baby."

The couple looked at their family waiting for an answer. Rory was in shock, her eyes were wide and her mouth was open. Lorelai smiled, trying to provoke some kind of reaction to her daughter.

"You okay, Hon?"

"Hum... yeah! Wow! Wait, weren't you two kind of unfertile or something?"

"It was the possibility, but it seems like the doctor was wrong," she smiled.

"But you sure? You're really pregnant?"

"I am. I went to the doctor today and she said: 'Congratulations, it's an insert _chosen sex here!_'"

"Wow! That's GREAT! Congratulations!" Rory smiled before taking a bite of pizza letting a perplexed Lorelai to her own celebration.

* * *

_**Thursday, the 27**__**th**__** November 2008**_

The day had passed too quickly for Lorelai and Rory. Jess had been hanging with Luke most of the time, letting the girls have a little time together. Rory went to see the rest of the town who were ecstatic about seeing Stars Hollow's favorite girl.

At the end of the afternoon, when they came back home, they found Luke ranting about microphones and cameras in the living room up onto a chair.

"Luke, hon, what are you doing? Should I call the nice men in the white coats or are you going to be okay?"

"It's okay, I'm trying something to talk to April tonight," Luke answered.

"Oh! That's a great idea, we could put the cam on the foyer so she would see everyone," Lorelai continued as Rory and Jess shared a confused look. "We're going to tell everybody else tonight," she explained.

"The foyer! I hadn't thought of that, good idea."

"We could also plug the TV and the computer together so everyone can see her!"

"Better yet!"

"Let me just..." Lorelai tried as she approached a chair of the plasma television.

"DON'T! You're going to electrocute yourself. Just sit down and look!"

"Wow, married Luke is really protective," Rory said as she sat down on the couch with her mother.

"Nope, that's Luke in his daddy mode," Lorelai said casually.

"Huh?"

"He's been like that for almost a week now, he won't even let me walk Paul Anka! He put winter tires on the Jeep – beside, do you know how much Jeep winter tires cost? – he called the inn and made everyone of my staff promise that I don't pass more than 10 minute standing up, he doesn't even want me to go shopping, but I didn't listen to him on this one."

"Gladly," the daughter said coldly.

* * *

It was not long before the guesses to the party began to arrive. At first it was just Liz and T.J., but soon Lane and the twins, Emily and Richard and Sookie's family came as well as some others townies. Of course, soon there was an argue between Jess and Lane to know if Rockband was a good thing for the rock industry, Sookie had tried twice to do over Luke's feast and Rory was taken in a weird and embarrassing conversion between her grandmother and T.J as Patty was announcing to everyone in the room that a figure skating coach would come during Christmas time to give some lessons which was really interesting Lorelai.

When the food was served, Luke took a time to connect with his daughter so she could share this moment with them. Not long after this, Lorelai got up for the toast to her guest.

"Okay, since Luke is not good at public speaking, I'm going to do the toast. Thanks to all of you for being here today, it means a lot to us. If we invited you here tonight is because you all mean a lot to us and we really appreciate your presence in our lives. So as we share this delicious meal made by my delicious husband..."

"Ew, gross, Mom!" Rory cut her off.

"Yeah, Lorelai, you should be more civilized with your guests," continued Emily.

"Okay, not delicious, but handsome husband..."

"I toast to that," said Miss Patty raising her glass.

"Oh, it's not over, yet," Lorelai was beginning to grow impatient and cut off all adjectives from her speech. "...so as we share this meal, we want to share some news..." she held her breath. "Luke and I... we're going to have a baby!"

At this very moment, every face around the table illuminated, smiles grew and so cries were heard. The only face that didn't look happy was Rory's.

"Oh my God, Lorelai, that's wonderful," said Emily as she got up.

"Really?"

"Yes, I'm going to be grandmother again!" she continued as she approached her daughter. "Come here."

Emily took her daughter in a huge hug, which took Lorelai by surprised. It was not long after the hug break that Emily took Luke in her arms as well. Soon, people began to cheer. Someone said: "PARTY!" and the party began.

"Congratulation son," Richard shook Luke's. "It's due in?"

"Middle of July, actually."

"Oh God! You better buy some kind of helmet because if my daughter is as hormonal as her mother, in the heat of July, you're going to need it!"

"Thanks Richard."

"I'm so happy for you, dad," April said over the computer making Luke approach it to talk more privately to his daughter.

As the party was going on, Lorelai soon saw Rory's chair empty. She threw a look at Jess who mouthed "her room". Worried, she quickly made her way to her daughter's room, knocked, and got in when a "come in" was heard.

"Hey, you're missing quite a party over there," she said looking at her daughter's sad face.

"Mhm," acknowledged the younger woman sitting at the edge of the bed with a shaking voice.

"Hey! What's wrong Hon?" she asked as she sat as well onto the bed.

"I don't know what's getting into me," said Rory in verge of tears. "I just... I don't know!"

"You know you still can say anything to me? I'm still your mother! I'm still your friend! Tell me what's going on."

"I don't know. I guess... it's not just you and me anymore, is it?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Look at me! I'm a horrible person!" Rory got up and began ranting. "You tell me this wonderful news! You are pregnant; you wanted to get pregnant even before you married Luke. And now you are, and I can't even be happy, because I won't have my mommy just to myself anymore. Talk about selfish! I'm 24, not two; I'm not supposed to be jealous of my unborn sibling!"

"Is that it? You're... jealous."

"Yes... no... I don't know," Rory said confused. "You have it, your whole package. You have a husband who loves you more than life itself and I think you love him as much; you have your inn even though things are not great anymore, they're going to be better soon; and now you're pregnant which I know you're ecstatic about. I just feel like I don't belong here, anymore."

"Of course, you do, Hon! I'm so sorry I made you feel this way! Is that the Christmas at Luke's old apartment thing? We just had trouble finding a way to fit everybody in for a long time. We thought you and Jess would be happy to have some space of your own. But if you don't want it, we'll figure out something else."

"It's okay, I'll have to talk to Jess about it before."

"And about the baby, I thought you were okay when I told you that we were trying this summer."

"I was... I am still okay with it. But now... now that it's on the way... I don't know... Yes I'm happy for you, you're happy, so is Luke, so am I. It just... it's not just you and me anymore..."

"Hon, it hasn't been just you and me since you left for college," Lorelai tried.

"I know, but I've been so busy then that maybe I didn't see it and it's just hitting me now: our life together is over," Rory said sadly sitting down on the bed.

"It's not over, hon, it's different! We now have Luke who is cooking every kind of junk food ever known to men for movies marathon, soon we'll have someone new to educate and mock those movies with, we have Jess who... I still don't know how Jess is going to fit in there, but he could play some kind of figurant role in our new life."

"Jess has kind of sarcastic mocking talent of his own," Rory smiled.

"You see and we could secretly give coffee to baby here while Luke is not looking," Lorelai smiled as well.

"It could be kind of fun," Rory said. "I'm sorry, mom."

"Oh Hon, it's okay. You have the right to be upset about thing even though they are stupid things."

"I know... I was just so looking forward this weekend that I kind of expected that it would be like before. But then I got this call and your announcement and it got all clear, it's never going to be the same ever again! Our Gilmore-girls-only-club doesn't live anymore. No more Saturday Night Movie marathon, no more walk in the first snow of the season, no more dancing in the living room, no more BWR nights..."

"Now, you're making me sad. You know Luke and I, we sometimes still have a movie night? And, we sometimes go to BWR, sometimes we go to Hartford to see new movies: we saw Saw V last month."

"No way!"

"Yeah! It's worth the torture just to see Luke's face when his lookalike got squashed between two walls."

"Yuck!"

"Yuck indeed!" Lorelai said. "What I'm trying to say here is when you're here, you're here, and nothing else is important. We're going to have to share our space, but we will never change unless we change us. No matter what's growing up in there, we were just the two of us for so long that I couldn't have this special bond with anybody else. Luke knows that, Jess knows that, they saw it then and they still see it now! I just want you to know that we're always will be us, the Gilmore girls, unless you get married and change your name, but still us."

"I know mom, I'm sorry," Rory said as she hugged her mom.

"So we're okay, now?"

"Yes we are."

"Okay," the daughter said before an awkward silence filled the room. "So... you really want to give coffee to the baby?"

"Oh! I don't know. He probably won't like it since I can barely stand the smell of it right now."

"Right, if you can't have coffee you can be sure it's Luke's."

"That's what I'm saying every times my tendencies to throw up show up."

"Yuck, babies are mean," Rory stated.

"No, they're not mean; this one is just his father's."

"How does he take it?" Rory said talking about Luke.

"You saw him! He's excited, ecstatic even! Of course, he won't let me do anything and there's a chance that I will try to strangle him before the pregnancy is over, but he's just so adorable. He talks to him and holds my hair when I throw up in the morning..."

"How romantic!" Rory continued. "Wait, you said him? It's a him? Can you... already know?"

"Hon, he's six weeks, not six months. He doesn't even have arms or a beating heart yet, but I have a feeling!"

"Oh! A feeling!"

"Yeah!

"So we're okay?" questioned Rory.

"Of course we are, Hon," reassured Lorelai. "So, how about we going back out there, see if this party still going on?"

"I'm in!"

They got out of the room to find Luke in the kitchen who was putting new rolls in a basket. Without thinking, Rory approached him and took him in a hug. "I think I didn't congratulate you."

"Maybe," Luke said, surprised by her action. "Thank you, I'm happy about it," he smiled.

"I know, I kind of saw it!" Rory laughed breaking the hug before leaving to the living room, letting Luke throw a confused look at her.

"She loves you," Lorelai smiled.

"Well, I love her too, it's great that she's here, you missed her!"

"Yes, I did," she said as back hugged him. "How did April take the news?"

"She was really happy, she said that she always wanted to have a brother or a sister or both, but since her mom hasn't dated anyone since... well me, she had given up that hope long time ago."

"That's great."

"What was wrong with Rory? She looked upset earlier."

"Oh it was nothing," she said not wanting to upset Luke. "She's leaving tomorrow, she was sad, but now she's okay now."

"So I've seen," Luke said, before changing subject. "I told April about the skating lessons; she said she wanted to try those."

"Cool, so we could all go together."

"What?"

"Together, April, Rory, maybe you and Jess... me."

"You?" he turned to her, looking at you angrily.

"Yes, why not?"

"Why not... let's see why you shouldn't put potentially dangerous boots with blades at your feet, slide on something you don't have grip on and by the way risk our baby life?"

"Luke..."

"NO!"

"It's not dangerous; I just have to tell the coach about the pregnancy and if she thinks it's dangerous, she's going to stop me. I don't want to give up on things I really want to do because it may be dangerous. I will blow my brains out if I have to just sit around during seven other months."

"Okay, look: I have to go back in the living room to our guests, but this conversation is not over... just don't hang yourself while I am there, please?"

"We'll see," she flakily sighed.

* * *

It was late when the last guest left and everybody just wanted to go to bed. About two hours later, Rory woke up. Not able to sleep anymore, she got up and went to the kitchen to do some research for work. Hearing sounds coming from the kitchen, Jess got up as well and followed his girlfriend.

"Hey, what are you doing?" he asked with a sleepy voice.

"Some research," Rory said without looking up. "Did you know that the word _gosse_ in French has a whole different meaning if you are in France or in Canada?"

"Huh? Why are you looking at this?"

"Because, I'm going to be working at _Le Droit_, which is a French paper and if I want to do some social contact, I'm going to have to speech French with people who work there. So I have to find the difference between France French and Canada French."

"Why?"

"Here: one morning I see Daniel from arts and I want to ask him how his children are. So I come to him and ask him: _Eh Daniel, comment vont vos gosses?_ Then I just asked him how his testicles were."

"How?"

"In France, the word _gosse_ means children, in Canada, it's testicle!"

"Wow, you learn something everyday... or every night!" he said returning to Rory's room when he heard noises from upstairs. "Is that what I think it is?"

"I hope not!" Rory said a little bit disgusted just before she heard some cries. "Oh my God, it is!"

Both of them got up and ran into Rory's soundproofed room. Ten minutes later, lying in bed, they were still wide awake... and more disgusted.

"I thought your mom said that they soundproofed the room."

"Maybe, it just one-sided soundproofed."

"Maybe, but it's really annoying... Could you tell me why they waited at two in the morning to have sex?"

"You ask me? If there's one thing in the world I don't want to know is why mother is having sex at two in the morning."

"I hope Luke is quick, I need to pee!"

"You know what? We should put some music on," she ignored her boyfriend, got up and turned on her radio.

"That's it, I can't wait anymore," Jess said about ten minutes later. He got up, left the bedroom, tried to ignore what was happening upstairs and went to the bathroom. As he was heading back to Rory's bedroom, he found himself happy to not hear any shouting. Instead, it was some kind of pillow talk.

"_If it's the hormones doing, I don't ever want this pregnancy thing to end," Lorelai said._

"_Fine by me," answered Luke. _

"Wait six months, you'll change your mind," he whispered under his breath.

"_So you'll let me skate?"Lorelai asked making Luke sigh_

"_Maybe."_

"_Great, thanks Hon!"_

"_Yeah yeah! I just said maybe."_

Before he went back to bed, he turned off the radio and turned toward Rory.

"Your mother is going to be skating with you and April during Christmas time."

"Huh?"

* * *

In the morning, Luke, happy smile in his face, was cooking breakfast in the kitchen. His "arguement" from last night was one of the several good aspects of being married to Lorelai Gilmore. As he was stirring his special chocolate chips pancake mix – the one meal he was sure Lorelai wouldn't be throwing up – Jess got out of the room and stared at him with a deadly look.

"What?"

"Your wife is loud," just said Jess before heading to the bathroom.

As perplexity was taking over his mind, he saw Rory get out of her room, gasp, say something like: "Oh my god, I'll never be able to eat his food again," and run back in. He sighed. That was one of the several bad aspects of being married to Lorelai Gilmore!

TBC


End file.
